I have a Dell G15 5515 Ryzen Edition laptop and intend on updating the bios. I have tried getting the update file, putting it in a fat32 usb and then using the bios flash update button. So far, it hasn’t worked giving me an incorrect file error. Trying different versions of the bios exe doesn’t seem to work.
I read somewhere that booting a freedos live usb and running the exe file (given by Dell) should do the trick. The issue is that I’m pretty scared of messing my system.
Is this method of updating bios safe? If something goes wrong, will I have bricked the computer or will it just give me an error message?
I mainly want to upgrade the bios for security purposes and the fact that it may make my system better than it currently is (not concerned if the latter doesn’t happen)
Also, if there is a method of using Windows or something to update the bios without installing the OS, I’m happy to try it.
Lastly, I’m not sure what system info would be relevant to help with this. So please ask if something will help.
I realize this may not be very relevant in a fedora discussion forum, but I thought it might be helpful to get the thoughts of linux users. I wasn’t sure where else to ask since Dell doesn’t support linux on this device.
The vendor recommended solutions for linux installs is fwupd, or in the absense of that, updating the bios through the “bios flash update” button in the bios and a bios downloaded through their website. That also did not work for me, giving a “invalid file error”.
The freedos method seems to be their last resort when nothing else works. I think I’ll go for it once my current project is done if I don’t see anything else. I think I’m just a bit nervous about using freedos to update my bios since I’m unfamiliar with it.
My desktop computer also support flashing BIOS in BIOS.
First of all, check OEM requirement about the USB drive:
Size limit
Support Partition scheme (one partition vs no partition)
Some require FAT32, but might also support NTFS
Correct location of the file (root of the drive without other files, some allow other files to present. Or under a specific folder)
Filename format requirement (Put the Downloaded file as is, or extract the archive)
Accepted Filename (use the file as download / extracted, or must rename it?)
Some laptop has a PIN hole that it must be pressed before doing special operataions.
Some BIOS require to enter Admin mode before flashing is allowed.
Some require Battery Level must be higher to certain %
Some require Battery Level + Power Adaptor is connected at the same time.
As long as the OEM instruction is followed fully, flashing in BIOS is the most realiable method.
I actually didn’t consider that the filename might be wrong. The instructions didn’t say anything about that but I’ll look it up tomorrow since it is late today.
I’ll try running the commands. I don’t believe my computer can upgrade through fwupd, but here is the results.
fwupdmgr get-devices
Dell Inc. Dell G15 5515
│
├─DELL0A6E:00 04F3:317E:
│ Device ID: 71366861514a407ed7959f66ffc89aec911824c5
│ Summary: Touchpad
│ Current version: 0x0005
│ Bootloader Version: 0x0001
│ Vendor: ELAN Microelectronics (HIDRAW:0x04F3)
│ GUIDs: db972db2-d0dd-557e-9ddd-ea0a77323371 ← HIDRAW\VEN_04F3&DEV_317E
│ 38d75275-10b3-5f2f-8c9f-a8d60111c768 ← HIDRAW\VEN_04F3&DEV_317E&MOD_0089
│ 4296cbee-f355-5bf6-b62d-a6a286b69414 ← ELANTP\ICTYPE_10
│ 4eed77b6-0567-5942-a842-2413a8622e3a ← ELANTP\ICTYPE_10&MOD_0089
│ 44426a60-0574-56d9-889f-48746ea06ba8 ← ELANTP\ICTYPE_10&MOD_0089&DRIVER_HID
│ Device Flags: • Internal device
│ • Updatable
│
├─AMD Ryzen 7 5800H with Radeon Graphics:
│ │ Device ID: 4bde70ba4e39b28f9eab1628f9dd6e6244c03027
│ │ Current version: 0x0a50000c
│ │ Vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
│ │ GUIDs: b9a2dd81-159e-5537-a7db-e7101d164d3f ← cpu
│ │ 22f9ecf4-588d-5c0a-8326-6ebff3655c6d ← CPUID\PRO_0&FAM_19
│ │ 79759cdc-94db-5098-be7b-eb02521fbbec ← CPUID\PRO_0&FAM_19&MOD_50
│ │ 20b595b0-5892-5870-8e4c-688133ad6e34 ← CPUID\PRO_0&FAM_19&MOD_50&STP_0
│ │ Device Flags: • Internal device
│ │
│ ├─Graphics Processing Unit (GPU):
│ │ Device ID: 310f45f1f223064b5c16bf6dff31146755a64480
│ │ Current version: 113-CEZANNE-018
│ │ Vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] (PCI:0x1002)
│ │ GUIDs: 9c2b91ed-2a3a-570a-9451-f509beda7125 ← PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_1638
│ │ b0661800-bc3f-5f3d-8108-e8bceb2d4771 ← PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_1638&SUBSYS_10280A6E
│ │ Device Flags: • Internal device
│ │
│ └─System Management Unit (SMU):
│ Device ID: db0330716216c629bb2c07256e5d018f499eb6ce
│ Summary: Microcontroller used within CPU/APU program 0
│ Current version: 64.45.0
│ Vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
│ GUID: 165feb35-d368-5388-b2ab-c513021bf019 ← /sys/devices/platform/AMDI0005:00
│ Device Flags: • Internal device
│
├─GA107M [GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile]:
│ Device ID: ce4c74a5188d5b9cdb1e72ed32dad2d313c1c999
│ Current version: a1
│ Vendor: NVIDIA Corporation (PCI:0x10DE, PCI:0x1022)
│ GUIDs: f85e1eb1-8164-5121-ab09-be4641866f8a ← PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_25A0
│ f8bb1a96-90ef-5724-849d-7330849aed1c ← PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_25A0&SUBSYS_10280A6E
│ 8f3f2d84-79db-5a32-a553-72b06bd850f5 ← PCI\VEN_1022&DEV_1633
│ 27f245f3-99ff-5b03-b949-bd6dfec31ddb ← PCI\VEN_1022&DEV_1633&SUBSYS_10221453
│ Device Flags: • Internal device
│ • Cryptographic hash verification is available
│
├─OM3PDP3-AD NVMe KDI 512GB:
│ Device ID: 03281da317dccd2b18de2bd1cc70a782df40ed7e
│ Summary: NVM Express solid state drive
│ Current version: 10100002
│ Vendor: Kingston Technology Company, Inc. (NVME:0x2646)
│ Serial Number: 50026B72829C0C84
│ GUIDs: 3dad580e-2a30-539a-be44-68f035e7badd ← STORAGE-DELL-109582
│ eb38573e-f48e-11e9-2a80-d84b9838a55a
│ Device Flags: • Internal device
│ • Updatable
│ • System requires external power source
│ • Supported on remote server
│ • Needs shutdown after installation
│ • Device is usable for the duration of the update
│
├─System Firmware:
│ │ Device ID: a45df35ac0e948ee180fe216a5f703f32dda163f
│ │ Summary: UEFI ESRT device
│ │ Current version: 66560
│ │ Minimum Version: 1029
│ │ Vendor: Dell Inc. (DMI:Dell Inc.)
│ │ Update State: Success
│ │ GUIDs: 3b06f1b6-ee90-4d0e-b9d0-5600d9c003ed
│ │ 230c8b18-8d9b-53ec-838b-6cfc0383493a ← main-system-firmware
│ │ Device Flags: • Internal device
│ │ • Updatable
│ │ • System requires external power source
│ │ • Needs a reboot after installation
│ │ • Cryptographic hash verification is available
│ │ • Device is usable for the duration of the update
│ │
│ └─UEFI dbx:
│ Device ID: 362301da643102b9f38477387e2193e57abaa590
│ Summary: UEFI revocation database
│ Current version: 371
│ Minimum Version: 371
│ Vendor: UEFI:Linux Foundation
│ Install Duration: 1 second
│ GUIDs: c6682ade-b5ec-57c4-b687-676351208742 ← UEFI\CRT_A1117F516A32CEFCBA3F2D1ACE10A87972FD6BBE8FE0D0B996E09E65D802A503
│ f8ba2887-9411-5c36-9cee-88995bb39731 ← UEFI\CRT_A1117F516A32CEFCBA3F2D1ACE10A87972FD6BBE8FE0D0B996E09E65D802A503&ARCH_X64
│ Device Flags: • Internal device
│ • Updatable
│ • Supported on remote server
│ • Needs a reboot after installation
│ • Device is usable for the duration of the update
│ • Only version upgrades are allowed
│ • Signed Payload
│
└─TPM:
Device ID: c6a80ac3a22083423992a3cb15018989f37834d6
Summary: TPM 2.0 Device
Current version: 3.57.0.5
Vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (TPM:AMD)
GUIDs: ff71992e-52f7-5eea-94ef-883e56e034c6 ← system-tpm
9305de1c-1e12-5665-81c4-37f8e51219b8 ← TPM\VEN_AMD&DEV_0001
78a291ae-b499-5b0f-8f1d-74e1fefd0b1c ← TPM\VEN_AMD&MOD_AMD
65a3fced-b423-563f-8098-bf5c329fc063 ← TPM\VEN_AMD&DEV_0001&VER_2.0
5e704f0d-83cb-5364-8384-f46d725a23b8 ← TPM\VEN_AMD&MOD_AMD&VER_2.0
Device Flags: • Internal device
• System requires external power source
• Needs a reboot after installation
• Device can recover flash failures
• Full disk encryption secrets may be invalidated when updating
• Signed Payload
fwupdmgr get-updates
Devices with no available firmware updates:
• DELL0A6E:00 04F3:317E
• System Firmware
Devices with the latest available firmware version:
• OM3PDP3-AD NVMe KDI 512GB
• UEFI dbx
No updates available
So far I haven’t found anywhere that says the filename should be something different. At least Dell doesn’t seem to say so.
As for the rest, I’ve tried a fat 32 usb with only one partition and only the bios file on it. It didn’t work. The file is a dos executable so I can’t extract it. My battery was charged and plugged in.
Please provide the exact file name.
If it is a file that ends with .exe then it seems it may require that the system be booted to windows then execute that file.
OTOH, what does the system bios tell you about updating the bios? Does it have a bios flash utility in the bios menus?
If it does then it may require that one place that .exe file on a fat formatted usb device then execute the file from windows on that device to expand the content which may extract the binary file needed for the bios to perform its own flash update.
-----EDIT----
I just went to the dell website for that laptop bios update and found the file Dell_G15_5515_1.6.0.exe which appears to be the one you may have downloaded. Further down on that page I found installation instructions, which seems to indicate that one may create a dos bootable USB device then place the file on that device. Once that is done then boot from the usb and execute the file. The instructions were copied and shown here.
Updating the BIOS from DOS (Non-Windows users)
Note 1: Before updating the BIOS, ensure that you suspend BitLocker encryption on a BitLocker-enabled system. If BitLocker is not enabled on your system, you can ignore this step. For information about how to disable BitLocker, see How to Enable or Disable BitLocker with TPM in Windows at support.dell.com.
Note 2: Do not turn off power or interrupt the BIOS update process during the update.
Note 3: Your system requires a restart after installing the BIOS. The restart can be deferred but must be completed to ensure that the update is installed.
Installation
Note: You must provide a bootable USB drive. This executable file does not create the DOS system files.
1. Copy the downloaded file to a bootable USB drive.
2. Power on the system and then Press the F12 key.
3. Select USB Storage Device and boot to the DOS prompt.
4. Run the file by typing following command. For example:
C:\ Alienware_Area_51M_R2.exe
Where C is the drive letter of the USB device where the executable file is located and Alienware_Area_51M_R2.exe is the name of the downloaded file.
The system restarts automatically and updates the BIOS at the system startup screen. After the BIOS update is complete, system restarts again.
Updating the BIOS from DOS with UEFI boot mode enabled (Non-Windows users, Load Legacy Option Disabled)
Note 1: Before updating the BIOS, ensure that you suspend BitLocker encryption on a BitLocker-enabled system. If BitLocker is not enabled on your system, you can ignore this step. For information about how to disable BitLocker, see How to Enable or Disable BitLocker with TPM in Windows at support.dell.com.
Note 2: Do not turn off the power or interrupt the BIOS update process during the update.
Note 3: Your system requires a restart after installing the BIOS. The restart can be deferred but must be completed to ensure that the update is installed.
Installation
1. Copy the downloaded file to a bootable DOS USB drive.
2. Power on the system and then go to BIOS Setup by pressing the F2 key.
3. Go to General > Boot Sequence > Boot > Boot List Option.
4. Change UEFI to Legacy of Boot List Option.
5. Go to Exit > Save Changes and reboot system.
6. Press F12 and then select USB Storage Device and boot to the DOS prompt.
7. Run the file by typing the file name.
The system restarts automatically and updates the BIOS at the system startup screen. After the BIOS update is complete, the system restarts again.
8. Go to BIOS Setup by pressing the F2 key and go to General > Boot Sequence > Boot > Boot List Option.
9. Change Legacy to UEFI Boot Option.
10. Go to Exit > Save Changes and reboot the system.
Yes that is the correct filename. I also tried the newer version Dell_G15_5515_1.12.0.exe, but it didn’t make a difference.
I tried to get freedos on a usb and boot into it. The issue is that my system only supports UEFI boot and freedos does not. I went to the bios boot options screen and cannot change it. It is not greyed out, but it won’t let me navigate to that option. My bios also doesn’t have a general menu, so I can’t follow the instructions to enable legacy boot.
However, I wonder if it may be possible to boot freedos from a ventoy usb. I am trying that now.
EDIT
Nope, did not work with the system set to boot uefi only. Doggone it.
One should however be able to go to the security tab and disable secure boot which then may allow setting the system to allow CSM/Legacy boot so freedos could be booted.
Note that secure boot is not supported with legacy boot so only when uefi is enabled can one use secure boot – thus secure boot prevents use of legacy boot.
The link you pointed me to mentioned that Windows PE can be installed on a usb and boot with UEFI boot. I’ll look into that and see if I can figure it out.
Edit: My secure boot is already turned off. So that doesn’t seem to be the problem
I just remembered that TPM also requires uefi boot and that should also be under the security tab. Just another thing to check as a possibility to prevent using legacy/CSM booting.
I solved the issue with Ventoy. I created a bootable windows PE, then updated the bios file through windows PE.
Just in case someone needs it in the future. I used Hirens Windows PE iso with ventoy. I used two USBs, one for the bios file, the other for ventoy with the iso. Once I booted into windows, I clicked the bios file, confirmed I wanted to update, and then it updated. The laptop fans got scarily loud, but it worked fine otherwise.
